A/HRC/45/CRP.8A/HRC/45/CRP.8 I. Executive summary 1. This thirtieth report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the human rights situation in Ukraine covers the period from 16 February to 31 July 2020. It is based on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).1 2. Ukraine introduced quarantine restrictions on 16 March, following its first confirmed COVID-19 case on 29 February. OHCHR remained fully operational during the reporting period, adjusting its work to minimize the risk of spreading the virus, carrying out its activities in person only when possible to do so safely, and remotely when there was no alternative. 3. During the reporting period, several spikes in hostilities, most notably in March and May, brought the number of civilian casualties during the first seven months of 2020 to 107 (18 killed2 and 89 injured3), a ten per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2019. Hostilities also resulted in at least 75 incidents of damage to civilian objects (excluding civilian housing). Following the agreement reached by the Trilateral Contact Group on 22 July, the Joint Forces Operation of Ukraine and armed groups of self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’4 enacted a package of additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire that took effect on 27 July. It is hoped this will contribute to a progressive decrease in civilian casualties, which by 31 July 2020 totaled at least 3,367 killed and more than 7,000 injured since the beginning of the conflict. 4. No tangible progress was achieved in establishing a mechanism of remedy and reparation for civilian victims of the conflict.5 The hardships and deprivations faced by the conflict-affected population for more than six years, were further exacerbated by COVID19-related restrictions on freedom of movement and by the overall impact of the pandemic on the enjoyment of economic and social rights. 5. The closure of all five entry-exit crossing points (EECPs) from late March to midJune resulted in the decrease of monthly crossings of the contact line from 1.3 million to a few hundred. As a result, thousands of people found themselves separated from their families, and lost access to quality healthcare, pensions and jobs. From mid-June, when crossings partially resumed through two EECPs, until 31 July, the total number in Donetsk and Luhansk regions comprised 43,000 crossings, which was substantially lower than during the preCOVID-19 period, and particularly low in the Donetsk region. Thousands of people with pressing humanitarian needs remain unable to cross. 6. Following the simultaneous release of detainees under the Minsk agreements on 16 April 2020, OHCHR interviewed eight men released by self-proclaimed ‘republics’. Their testimonies confirmed patterns of torture and ill-treatment, as previously identified by OHCHR. This once again underscores the need for access by independent international monitors, including OHCHR, to detainees and places of detention in territory controlled by self-proclaimed ‘republics’. 1 2 3 4 5 HRMMU was deployed on 14 March 2014 to monitor and report on the human rights situation throughout Ukraine, with particular attention to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, and to propose recommendations to the Government and other actors to address human rights concerns. For more information, see UN Human Rights Council, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, 19 September 2014, A/HRC/27/75, paras. 7-8, available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session27/Documents/A-HRC-27-75_en.pdf. Ten men, seven women and one boy. Forty-nine men, 30 women, six girls and four boys. Hereinafter ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ respectively. For brevity, they are collectively referred to as self-proclaimed ‘republics’. As set out in UN General Assembly resolution 60/147, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, 21 March 2006, A/RES/60/147, available at www.undocs.org/en/A/RES/60/147. 3